Park Guest House Shantiniketan

02 November

We arrived at the Kolkata airport right on schedule and walked over to the domestic terminal, which was comparable to a provincial bus station in Thailand. We had a four hour wait until our connecting flight to Jaipur so we sat around the airport killing time by walking around, eating (the sandwiches that I had brought with me from home) and chatting. Our flight to Jaipur ...

... first hit game. 5. Bionic Commando (PC, Playstation 3and Xbox 360) The classic 2D game finally gets a sequel after more than 20 years. Bionic Commando brings the grappling action video games into the 3D realms. In addition to an intense story mode, the long-awaited sequel will also support up to ten players in its online multiplayer modes when it comes out this month.

... having a biscuit that he followed us for a while before a man selling coconuts chased him away by threatening him with a large knife!!!! We also found a ferry ride on the Gagnes - we were told to sit indoors on the boat, but it was really hot outside so I went and chatted to the indian at the front of the boat and managed to strike a deal to allow us to sit up on the deck. This was fine, except that I managed to get sunburnt, so, 5 weeks after I arrive in India, I can finally tell ...

... of the finances with Christopher. He had all of his expenses - and how he has spent the money, all documented for every month. He also gave us copies of the kid's report cards from last year, and we discussed the best way to provide medical supplies for the families (tetnis shots, basic first aid kits, hand sanitizer, etc.).

Alanna's admirer from Flurries was going to come to the dump with us this ...

... we took like 5 pictures! How irritating!

Along the way we saw all kinds of cool things the merchants lining the streets had to sell. They had hand-made bags and scarves and wall hangings, and clothing, and jewelry - it was a fun experience having them compete for our attention as we passed by, but at times they would get a bit pushy, so we had to be careful. We did end up buying a few things here & ...

... The other 3 i have been given a PNR (passenger name record) number which means when i get to a station i need to check at a window to confirm my seat number. Still o.k. Now for the compartment. Do you remember the old Inter City trains where there were onlt 2 doors to a carriage and the corridor ran down the side of the train? If not ask an old person. Inside the carriage there 8-10 compartments with sliding doors and seats for 4 people each side or if you were in first ...

... was floating around my computer a moment ago. Lovely. Oh yuck. Well, i did just notice out of the corner of my eye (no deadpan staring for me!) that my neighbor here just thrust a finger or two up his nose, so maybe i should not worry about it and just fish out the venturesome insect. Seems like at any point you can do anything hygeine-related in public, so long as it's with your left hand. Later today, after chai (REAL chai!) we're going to register ...

... of the mascots for the KKs he was on stilts wearing his gold shin pads and boosting up the crowd. It was funny as he was British and was telling us that he was being put up in 4 star hotels around India for 3 months. Not a bad job as it didn't seem hard work clapping at the crowd now and again. He also told us that he was in India previously for a year travelling with the Indian Circus, how bizarre. The cheerleaders, it turned out ...

... facked it up enough for the phone to permanently render my SIM card useless. I rang 3 in the UK (the call was diverted to their call center back here in India so i could listen to that ‛sweet Indian accent') who sent me the code to unlock my phone allowing it to take other SIM cards. My number while in Vietnam is; (0168) 5321 411 if any body's interested, but by the time i get off my numb end and send this, i may well be in Laos. Everyone ditch that old UK number, it ...

Deep breath. Despite getting to bed late last night, I was up at 8. Did some washing then joined Alex for breakfast in preparation for some more fun and games on AJC Bose Road. Irritatingly, nowhere that can do photocopying is open until 10.30am, and we had to be at the FRRO by then. I met Will and Michelle and Olivier and we took the metro. On the way to the FRRO we found a Xerox place, so armed with photocopies of everything, we entered the office ...